War Dogs: The Story of Stormy and Ron Aiello

Stormy stopped. She sensed something ahead. Danger. Her handler, Ron Aiello, saw nothing, but he had learned to trust the instincts of war dogs, especially Stormy. He dropped to one knee beside her, peering where the dog was looking.

It was just in time.

The sniper’s bullet whistled right over his head.

“If it wasn’t for Stormy, I would have gone straight into the open and the sniper would have taken me down without any difficulty,” says Aiello. “She saved my life that day.” And it was then that Stormi joined the ranks of military hero dogs.

Marine Ron Aiello served with Stormy in 1966–1967 in one of the first thirty Marine Reconnaissance teams to land in Vietnam. He can tell dozens of stories about how Stormy saved him and his co-workers. Some of them are as dramatic as the story of the sniper, while others are about how military hero dogs helped the soldiers in other important ways.

“I remember one Marine asked if he could pet her, then sat down next to her, hugged her and let her lick his face, and they sat like that for about ten minutes. When he got up, he was calm and ready. I’ve seen it do that to people over and over again,” says Ron. “She was a real therapy dog ​​for all of us. I really believe that if I had been there without Stormi, I would be a different person today. We were real friends.”

Aiello received notice that it was time to part ways with Stormi, just one day before the end of his 13-month tour of duty. He went home and she stayed in Vietnam. The new guide was preparing to take his place beside her.

That night, Ron slept with Stormy right in her booth. The next morning he fed her, stroked her and left forever.

“I never saw her again,” he says.

His heart was broken from separation from a faithful four-legged friend.

Helping military dogs as a tribute to an old friend

Now, fifty years later, Aiello pays tribute to a wartime friend by making sure that war dogs are helped and cared for for the rest of their lives. Ron is president of a non-profit organization called the United States War Dog Relief Association, which he founded with other Vietnam veteran handlers to honor the military heroes of yesteryear and care for the heroes of our time.

When the group first started working together in 1999, their goal was simply to raise money for a national war dog memorial. Hill’s Pet Nutrition supported the event by donating t-shirts, jackets, and bandanas that the group sold to raise funds.

“Hill’s has helped us a lot,” says Aiello. “We raised a lot of money with their help.”

But then 11/XNUMX happened.

“Of course, the war memorial activity was suspended, and instead we started sending humanitarian aid packages to the dogs and their handlers involved in the rescue operations,” says Aiello. Hill’s did not stand aside here either, this time donating dog treats that were included in the packages. Ron Aiello isn’t sure exactly how many humanitarian aid packages the group has sent over the years.

“I just stopped counting at twenty-five thousand,” he says.

According to Ron, as the military situation in the Middle East worsened, so did the need for military dogs. So the Military Dog Aid Association has launched a medical expenses program for military hero dogs, paying for everything from PTSD to chemotherapy.

According to Ron Aiello, there are currently 351 ex-military dogs enrolled in the medical care program.

The non-profit organization also gives military dogs meritorious awards in the form of bronze medals and plaques and helps guides pay for the costs of adopting their military pets.

The association has also finally achieved its original goal: The US War Dogs Memorial was opened in 2006 at the gates of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Holmdel, New Jersey. It is a bronze statue depicting a kneeling soldier and his dog – just like the day Stormy saved Aiello from a sniper bullet.

Stormy’s fate is unknown

Ron Aiello managed to find three guides who worked with Stormy in Vietnam after him.

“They all told me that she was still there, escorting patrol teams, looking for explosive devices and doing her job perfectly as always,” he says.

But after 1970, the news stopped coming. After completing his military service, Aiello wrote to the United States Marine Corps asking for Stormy to be adopted. Haven’t received an answer yet. To this day, he does not know what fate befell her. It could have been killed in action or, like many dogs that served in Vietnam, it could have been euthanized, abandoned, or handed over to the Vietnamese after the American withdrawal.

Aiello is glad that a similar fate will never befall another military dog.

A 2000 bill signed by President Bill Clinton provides that all adoptable military and service dogs be available for placement with a family upon completion of service. Because military dogs are highly trained, very loyal, and may have unique medical issues, all retired dogs available for adoption are assigned to the Department of Defense Military and Service Dog Adoption Program. More than 300 dogs find their home through this program each year.

Another bill, this time signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2015, guarantees the safe return to the US of all retired military dogs that have served overseas. In the past, handlers often had to raise funds on their own to send pets home. Organizations such as the US War Dog Relief Association help pay for these costs.

Ron Aiello will never forget Stormy and the important role she played in his life and in the lives of other soldiers who served with him in Vietnam. He hopes that his work with the US War Dog Relief Association honors her memory and the lives of soldiers she saved, including his own.

“No matter where I was or what I was doing in Vietnam, I always knew that I had someone to talk to and that she was there to protect me,” he says. “And I was there to protect her. We had a real friendship. She was the best friend a man can only dream of.”